£400 gaming machine

[nickpimenta]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: next 2 weeks
BUDGET RANGE: £400-£500

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse, Speakers, Sound Card, HDD (2x SATA), CD/DVD Drives. Graphics card (I have a Geforce 9800GT, but plan to upgrade this maybe next year)

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: any UK website COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United Kingdom

PARTS PREFERENCES: I like the Athlon X3 440, would like 1600Mhz DDR3 memory 4GB, and a Motherboard that I can put a 6 core processor at a later date.

OVERCLOCKING: maybe SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1680x1050

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Would like the system to have some possibility of upgrading in the future well, maybe by SLI/Crossfire or CPU upgrade. So basically just need the Case, CPU, RAM, MOBO, PSU.

Thanks in advance

 

[Silvune]

CPU: AMD Athlon II X3 440 £70
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/191955

Mobo: ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 £112
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/198314

RAM: G-Skill 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1600MHz/PC3-12800 Ripjaw Memory Kit CL7(7-8-7-24) 1.65V £110
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/180490
If you want to save ~£15 on the RAM then this would be unnoticeably slower:
Crucial 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1600MHz Ballistix Memory Kit CL8(8-8-8-24) 1.65V £95
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/191175

PSU: XFX 650W XXX Edition £70 now (probably £80 or £85 when the deals gone)
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/191826
OR
Antec Earthwatts 750W £80
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/161664
Has about 670 watts on it's 12V rail, so gives 50 watts more headroom than the XFX.
Either of these will be fine for any high end graphics card and two of quite a few high graphics cards, such as two 5850s.

Case: Antec 300 £45
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/143854
Personal choice kind of area, if you can find one you like better then feel free to go for it, but this one is good for the price and can fit a graphics card as long as a 5870 (the second longest graphics card available atm).
This is another good one: Xigamatek Utgard £65

Total: £437 (taking the most expensive options)

 

[nickpimenta]

Many Thanks Silvune, very helpful.

This is the build I am now considering, using your reccomendations.

 

[mosox]

Good stuff but only if you crossfire later. If you don't you can get some cheaper parts (mobo, PSU) and a better CPU. If you'll get a good video card you won't need to crossfire.

 

[nickpimenta]

Umm... Good though, could you spec a suitable mobo + CPU in that case?

Thanks!

 

[mosox]

You can get a video card as well in your budget and the video card is what's important in gaming:

MSI 770-G45 770
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/185913
AMD Athlon II X3 440
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/191955
Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/178943
Sapphire HD 5770 512MB GDDR5 DVI HDMI Display Port PCI-E
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/199404
Corsair 400W CX PSU
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/150985
Coolermaster Elite 335 Case
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/151368

Total with shipping: £409.77

Your RAM will work at 1333 anyway if you don't overclock and there's no big difference between 1600 and 1333 in the real world applications. You can refine this and get some other mobo and CPU if you go towards your upper budget limit.

 

[nickpimenta]

Hi Mosox, thanks for your reply,
I already have a Geforce 9800GT, which I know is not the best, but I would like to keep it for a year, and then maybe upgrade to the 5770 you have suggested or similar card next year or so (when I have a bit more cash!)

When you say that the ram chosen before will only work at 1333, is that because of the mobo?

Thanks in advance

 

[mosox]

Because of the CPU. Here's a £400 non-crossfire configuration:

Asus M4A87TD EVO
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/206151
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/190673
Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz Memory Kit Unbuffered CL9
Corsair 450W VX
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/131052
Lancool K58
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/195783

Total with shipping: £419.95

 

[Silvune]

If you're not going to get 1600Mhz RAM, then this is the set to get: Crucial 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz/PC3-10600 Ballistix Memory Kit CL7 (7-7-7-24) 1.65V £92

The XFX PSU gives you plenty of possibilities for upgrading, it will last quite awhile. I would strongly suggest keeping it.

I have not read much about it, but the one thread that I did read about problems with 1600mhz RAM on AM3 was that the memory controller couldn't handle speeds above 1650mhz.

 

[nickpimenta]

I think I would rather get the 1600Mhz ram, as I will plan to upgrade the CPU in a few years, maybe to a hex core or something, that is the beauty of AM3 is that I expect a lot of processors a few years down the line will work with it.
Will probably go for the more expensive XFX PSU, just for the feeling of "you get what you pay for" and I would susspect a good PSU is something that will last a while.

Also, considering a slightly cheaper mobo, just to save a bit of cash,

Asus M4A79XTD EVO 790X £85
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/172846

Instead of Silvune's recomendation of:

ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 £112
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/198314

Any thoughs if that cheaper mobo will be a good way to save money, or is it a much worse mobo for future upgrades etc...?

Thanks

 

[Silvune]

Yea that's a perfectly good mobo.
And considering that the 1600mhz Crucial set I suggested is only £2 more than the 1333mhz set, it's not exactly a big deal if you have to let it run at 1333mhz. Altho I'm sure you'll be able to get it to 1600mhz fine.

 

[nickpimenta]

I think this recent article proves the X3 is a good chose for gaming!

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/athlon-ii-x3-440-gaming-performance,review-31906.html

Now... on payday, how to pusuade the missus to let me part with the cash.....